Harper wanted to provoke an election, and should come clean: Duceppe

Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe started his election campaign Saturday with both barrels blazing, as he called Prime Minister Stephen Harper a liar, accused his government of fraud and influence-peddling, and said only the Bloc can bar the way of a Conservative majority government.

“Stephen Harper did everything to provoke an election,” Duceppe said, ridiculing the prime minister’s stance that the opposition parties have forced a vote Canadians do not want.

“The Conservative leader wants to impose his ideology without bounds,” he added, responding to Harper’s plea in Ottawa earlier in the day for a majority Conservative government.

Harper had also attacked a possible Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition, which he alleged would try to form a government even if his Conservatives win the most seats in the House of Commons — but with a minority. “It is not legitimate to form a government if you lose the election,” the prime minister said.

Duceppe would not rule out a coalition government, but again called Harper a liar on this point, waving a 2004 letter signed by Harper, NDP leader Jack Layton and himself — one that was addressed to then-governor general Adrienne Clarkson.

Duceppe said Harper initiated the 2004 discussions and the letter in which the three opposition leaders proposed a coalition government if Paul Martin’s Liberal minority government lost a confidence vote.

After announcing the May 2 election date early Saturday, Harper said the Liberal and NDP want a coalition with a party that “wants to break up our country,” referring to the Bloc.